Sunday, March 12, 2006

The Deval is in the Details

It looks like .08 Acres is your one-stop for coverage of the Deval Patrick rally in downtown Beantown yesterday. He has the key points, plus links to the speech text and bloggers who have already posted.

Back in the old world, the Boston Globe lives down to its Boston Glib nickname. They put Scott Helman's rambling, distracted coverage on B6. The headline makes you think it will cover the rally, but it spends more time on his competitors.

Somebody needs to hit the paper with a get-smart stick. It clearly remains devoted to old-style machine politics, with reporters like someone mindlessly flipping TV channels looking for the best thing on, instead of asking, "Is there anything worth watching on?" The Globe political coverage always follows the elephants with a shovel and cart. It needs to look at the whole parade.

Instead of always framing candidates with a major party's presumed hero, it should be covering the hell out of the issues Patrick raised yesterday and has put forward so clearly on his Website and in his other appearances.

The Herald incorporates the rally in a short article. Yet, it manages to include a key point that came when Deval said, "We have two other candidates in the race who were in power while Big Dig costs soared, the health-care system broke down, property taxes skyrocketed and classrooms became overcrowded, gun and gang violence increased, and yet they still believe they have the first claim on who should be your governor."